GSA Morgan Silver Dollars: Where Are They ?

Even for a dealer, it often won't make much sense. Why tie up extra time (sending back and forth) and funds (even if it's $10-$20) if you can quickly sell something raw? A dealer that buys for $180-$190 can likely sell for $200-$225 raw. Graded 64s are selling on eBay for $250-$300. Receive a 62 and you have about the same price as a raw coin. At least a 65 or 64 PL would be needed to make it worthwhile to grade.

 

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Even for CC coins ?

 

For 1882, 1883, and 1884, yeah.

 

You also have to take into account, that back in the late '70's and going into the '80's these were cracked out massively by dealers at coin shows. There have been stories about lots of those large garbage cans being full of cracked open plastic. The reason they were cracked out is that a lot of dealers found the holders to be cumbersome and took up too much space. So they simply cracked them out and disposed of the plastic and the packaging. That is one of the reasons that GSA's in their original packaging carry a premium over a generic CC counterpart.

Also, in the early days of the the TPG's, the coins were cracked out of the GSA holder and then put into TPG plastic. NGC I believe was the first to grade them in the holder, followed by ANACS. PCGS finally started grading them in the holder just a few years ago.

I've owned several over the years, but unfortunately I found myself with weak hands and have sold the ones I've owned in the past. I do now own an 1884-CC in the original plastic case along with the box and certificate. I plan to hold this one until I am no longer here. I also plan to add to the collection as I come across ones I like.

 

Like @TypeCoin971793 mentioned, for the majority of the common GSA Morgans (which are the 1882-CC through 1884-CC), the price difference between original case and certified is very small until you get to the 65 grade.

 

On the other had there are know examples of fake coins in fake PCGS holders (although it may be easier to track)

 

You can't treat the TPG bit like it's a blind box at the carnival.

Most of these have traveled through coin dealers' hands (several times) and they can grade coins or they don't last long in the business.

I bet the pops are skewed towards the higher grades. If you have one in hand that's a clear 61 or 62, you sell it on raw. If it looks like a solid 63 with a shot at 64, maybe you send it off to be graded.

Also, FWIW, the cost for GSA grading at PCGS is higher than you think. The upcharge for the giant plastic tomb itself is $20 (https://www.pcgs.com/news/pcgs-encapsulates-gsa-hoard-silver-dollar)

 

Wow, one is being offered for 6-figures:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313&_nkw=GSA+MORGAN+MS65&_sacat=0

 

Some issues are rare in GSA holders, and people pay big money for them just because. I guess 1879 CC is one of those. 1891 CC is another one.

Remember folks, buy the holder and not the coin

 

But isn't there the "doubt" factor that once you confirm that something is in fact an MS63 (and not 1 or 2 grades lower), it pays for the TPG submission ? And if a couple of those 63's are in fact 64's or 65's, ka-ching ?

No ?

 

Back in the 1970s, I bought about a dozen GSA CC dollars, with dates from 1878-1885. In this pic, you can see 15 GSA boxes. None of the coins have been graded, although the it might be worthwhile for 79-CC.

Note: it's been quite a while since my last post.

 

Welcome back.

 

You got them like that or you took them out of those CC plastic slabs that were part of the OGP ?

Welcome Back !

 

For the most part, no. What the market shows, is that there is a small difference from MS 60 through MS 64. A raw example sells for the same amount as a slabbed MS 62. The MS 63 barely sells for more than the grading fee (and that's if a dealer has a discount via bulk submission). The MS 64 sells for a little more but often still not enough to justify the time spent waiting for the grading vs flipping and reinvesting the money.

If you have an example that has a chance of a 65 but could come back 64, then there is a good case for sending the coin in. If you think the max grade is a 64, there is rarely a reason to send it in (at least from a financial perspective).

 

Grandad bought two for me when the government was auctioning those dollars. They would both go maybe 62-63 at best. Makes no difference to me. I don’t need TPG stickers on my GSA Morgan’s to tell me what they are. They were a very special gift from grandad!..... I’m sure they will go to market one day and maybe then somebody will choose to send them to a TPG. As long as I am here, they will stay as they are.

 

Perhaps I should explain the pic. This is a teaser shot used at the start of a Morgan Dollar thread (on another forum). The coins in the front row were taken out of circulation after WWII up until the last one was found at the Louisville KY airport in 1957-58. Note the tape marks on one dollar -- that one was probably taped to a piece of cardboard, which served as my US type coin folder at the time. The 2nd row is just some junk silver dollars in my silver stack.

The last row shows 15 (empty?) GSA boxes, piled up for the picture. The GSA dollars are all still in their OGP plastic holders:

 

I got to look at a few today a 78 and and 85's, dealer wanted 700 each, I know off the topic of the 84 GSA. The thing is the 84's were graded and priced. Got the holder premium on the others.

 

Thirty years ago I remember seeing stacks and more stacks of these at coin shops and shows. They didn't get much care. Some dealers would just chunk/slide them across the case. When the plastic got ugly, many were cracked out.
I'm guilty of cracking out the common CC dollars for my Dansco. After 30 years, I'm not sure that was very smart.

 

WAS way way low.....up to 14% as per my calculations, GD.

Yeah, who would have figured that OGP would be worth saving/having.